


Sick Daze

by SecretEspionage



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Reader-Insert, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5420120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretEspionage/pseuds/SecretEspionage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You get sick, and while soldiers are not the best suited to be nurses, they sure are a close second. Bucky/Reader/Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sick Daze

**Author's Note:**

> By far the longest thing I've written to date, hoo. I started writing this when I got sick last week and it turned into something a lot bigger than I originally planned, but I'm gonna have fun with it anyways. Thank you to everyone who takes time out of their day to read this!

A cough or two he could have excused, but when you were thrown into a coughing fit with Steve holding your arm and patting your back gently, Bucky knew you were sick. He had years of knowledge on picking up all the early of signs of a cold from taking care of Steve when he was just a ninety-five pound bag of bones asthmatic. When your congestion subsided and you thanked Steve, Bucky immediately ordered you to bed.

“What, no! Why?” You asked, confused at his sudden demand. “It’s not even noon yet.”

“You’re sick.” He responded, nonchalantly stabbing some eggs onto his fork.

“You can’t know that from just a few coughs.” 

“Sure I can.” He pointed his fork, still skewered with his breakfast, at Steve. “I learned it from taking care of this punk for all those years.”

“Right, ‘taking care of me’” Steve retorted with a smile, looking over at you with a knowing twinkle in his blue eyes. “More like forcing me into bed and never letting me leave except to use the bathroom.”

“Not my fault you were a stubborn son of a bitch.” Bucky responded back with smirk, clasping his best friend’s shoulder. “You still are, and so are you.” He turned his attention back to you. You returned his amused gaze with your own annoyed one. “I know how to handle your types. Bed. Now.” He left no room for argument and held your challenging look as he stuck his fork in his mouth. You rolled your eyes and huffed in annoyance when he smirked and winked at you.

“Look, just because I-” another sudden coughing fit cut you off, Steve was immediately back at it again, patting your back and soothing you until you calmed down once more. When you looked up, you were met with Bucky’s eyebrow quirked and a smug look on his handsome face.

“Steve’s right, you are a jerk.” You stated with slight contempt in your voice.

“You’re breaking my heart, babe.” He said, dramatically putting his hand over his chest and flinching like he had been stabbed by your words. “Now go to bed.”

“No, I want to finish my food.” You demanded, crossing your arms defiantly over your chest. Realizing you weren’t going to budge, Bucky immediately stood, quickly taking another forkful of eggs into his mouth, and made it to your side in two strides. Before you could even think of asking what he was going to do, he slipped his hands under your arms and easily lifted you up out of your chair and draped you over his shoulder despite your protests. 

“Steve will bring it.” He said cheerily, amused by your weak punches on his back in a futile attempt to be put down on your feet again.

“I take it back, you’re not a jerk, you’re an ass.” He let out an airy chuckle and you finally allowed yourself to be taken to your room without fighting against him. 

Using one hand, he let himself into your room and made his way to the bed. He moved your heavy comforter off to the side and gently sat you down on the mattress, letting your back rest against the headboard.

“If you’re taking care of me, I have demands.” You said, stubbornly crossing your arms over your chest while he tucked you in.

“Oh,” he raised an eyebrow at you, finding your pouty lips rather cute. “And what would those be?”

“I want the hoodie off your back and a pair of Steve’s sweatpants.” You locked eyes with him, holding his gaze until he broke it off with a laugh. 

“Yes ma'am.” He surrendered, throwing his hands up for effect before taking off his hoodie. He did it slow purposefully, wanting to give you a show as he revealed his black tank top underneath. You turned your head slightly but admired his stunning physic out of the corner of your eye. You couldn’t help it as your cheeks turned pink when you realized his tank fit him like a second skin. You swear the bastard planned for this to happen as his shirt rose up, revealing his tanned skin and the hard muscles it stretched over. Motherfucker. Bucky grinned at the red blush on your face and handed the clothing over. You clicked your tongue in annoyance, turning your head to hide your face from him, and snatched his clothes from his hand. 

You quickly put his hoodie on while it still held his warmth in the threads and were quite happy with how it seemed to completely swamp your body. The sleeves extended well past your hands and when you put the hood up, you appeared almost lost in it. You brought the collar up to your nose and inhaled as deep as your sickly lungs could allow you and let it out with a content sigh. Bucky watched the entire time, adoring smile ever present on his face. 

“I’m touched, truly.” Bucky said, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. His smile grew until his teeth were shown and his eyes crinkled at the deep red blush that appeared on your cheeks. You grumbled a curse under your breath as he ruffled the top of your cloaked head. As Bucky headed for the door, Steve walked in, cheery as ever, while carrying your half-finished breakfast plate in his hands. 

“Don’t try to leave, doll,” Bucky patted Steve on the shoulder as he passed him on his way out. “Stevie here’s gonna be watching you when I can’t.”

“Ah, yes, I’m truly terrified.” You responded, holding your arms out to Steve as he handed your plate over. “Captain America himself giving me breakfast in bed. Already, I am shaking in my boots. You, sir, have impeccable taste when it comes to choosing ferocious guard dogs.” Bucky let out a chuckle at your reply.

“You’re real cute,” he said, finally ducking out into the hallway.

“I want Steve’s pants!” You called out loudly after him. Your comment earned raised eyebrows and a confused look from the super soldier himself.

“Should I even ask?” He questioned, settling down on the other side of your bed, sitting so he’s shoulder to shoulder with you.

“You found me out, Cap, I want in your pants.” You replied nonchalantly, picking at your bacon with your fingers. If any other woman had said that to him, he would be reduced to a stuttering mess, but he knows you well enough to know when you’re joking. 

“You wouldn’t be the first one,” he said nudging your side. You quirked an eyebrow at his seemingly sudden male confidence, but he saw your look and corrected himself. “According to Natasha.”

“Ah, well, I’m the only that matters though, right?” You asked, leaning your head onto his bicep and staring up at him with the best puppy eyes you could muster. He chuckled, shaking his head slightly at your silliness, and patted your hand gently.

“Of course.” You squished your cheek against Steve’s arm at his response, very pleased with it, and relaxed as you continued to lay your head against him. You both fell silent as you ate, but after three more bites you realized that Bucky was right and your sickness was catching up to you. You pouted and pushed your plate away. 

“Can’t finish?” Steve asked, already taking the plate off your lap to set it on the nightstand.

“Not a chance.” You sighed, pressing closer to him. “I think Bucky was right.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.” Steve joked, laying his head against the top of yours.

“Don’t let who hear what?” Bucky asked as he entered the room, causing you both to look up at him. In one hand, he held a large glass of water and in the other he carried three different bottles of medicine. Steve’s sweatpants hung over his shoulder, he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it if he forgot.

“Don’t let you hear my heartfelt declaration of love for you, of course.” You answered, flashing him a grin. Bucky returned the gesture, setting the glass of water on the nightstand and tossing the pants at your face. 

“Babe, I already know you’re in love with me.” He teased, setting the medicine down next to the glass. “You’re not subtle.”

“And you’re not nice.” You huffed, slightly irritated with yourself for not catching Steve’s sweatpants before they hit your face. You moved the covers off of yourself and swung your legs over the edge of the bed. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Bucky ready to tell you to stay put, but you quickly interrupted him before he could get it out.

“I can’t change into pants if I’m sitting, Barnes.”

“I could help you with it.” He smiled as you rolled your eyes at his blatant flirting.

“You can help yourself by turning around.” You shot back, already hooking your thumbs into the waistband of your shorts. Behind you, Steve immediately straitened up, cheeks and ears going pink, as he turned to look at the wall on his other side. Ever the gentleman and just as shy around women as he was in the forties it seemed. Bucky let out a low chuckle seeing Steve pretend to be really invested in a blank wall as he scratched the side of his face to hide his blush. Bucky busied himself with pouring your medicine into a spoon as you quickly changed your bottoms. Once you settled back down into bed did Steve dare look at you, blush still present on his face.

“Alright, kid, open up.” Bucky said, holding the spoon out towards you, his metal hand underneath the utensil in case some drops spilled.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” You dead panned. You weren’t two, you could pour and take your own medicine.

“Serious as a stroke. Now come on, I’m not getting any younger.”

“You could say that again.” Steve commented, earning a chuckle from the girl beside him.

“Watch it, punk,” Bucky warned amiably. “Captain America or not, I can still hand your ass to you.” Steve laughed, putting his hands up in surrender. “Now come, on open up.” He said, turning his attention back to you.

“You realize I’m not five, yeah?” You crossed your arms over your chest, something you’ve started to do quite frequently when you decided to challenge the brunette super soldier.

“Couldn’t tell with the way you act.” Bucky responded, unable to keep the grin from spreading on his face. You scoffed and rolled your eyes, another bad habit forming because of him.

“You’re a real lousy nurse, you know that?” You said leaning towards him. He grinned and shot you a wink before pushing the spoon into your mouth, slowly as to not spill the medicine. He let the tips of his metal fingers lightly brush under your chin as you tilted your head back slightly. You grimaced as you swallowed the foul tasting liquid and let out a sound of disgust.

“That shit will never taste good.” You said, leaning back until you were resting against Steve’s arm. Bucky just smiled, handing the glass of water over for you to down the taste with. After a few sips, you set it back on the nightstand and Bucky put the cap back on the medicine bottle.

“Wait, did you give me the night stuff?” You asked, sitting up to get a better look at the bottle in his hands. Bucky looked at you with an eyebrow raised like the answer to your like question was obvious.

“Yeah.” He replied nonchalantly, putting the medicine back on the stand.

“It’s not even noon yet, why’d you give me that?”

“You can’t get better if you don’t rest.” Bucky said like it was common knowledge. “And I won’t have to worry about you moving around too much if you’re asleep.” You scoffed.

“I have things to do today, Bucky.” You said, annoyed.

“Yeah, it’s called resting.” He said, slipping his hand under your knees and putting his metal one on your back. Effortlessly, he lifted you up and motioned for Steve to move the covers to make way for you being tucked in. Steve pulled the comforter towards himself as Bucky lowered you gently back onto the bed. You gave no resistance except for the angry look on your face.

“It’s for your own good.” Bucky joked, pulling the covers up under your chin. 

“Yeah, yeah.” You responded, turning towards him, adjusting covers over your shoulder. Bucky reached forward, cradling your cheek in his flesh hand. You looked at him, your eyes showing no irritation or discomfort that your voice previously held, only silent wonder. He leaned towards you, slowly, until his lips were against your forehead and he pressed a chaste kiss to you. He let his lips linger, closing his eyes and furrowing his brows. He remembered how bad it would get for Steve when he was sick, he hoped dearly that you would be spared from just how horrible any sickness could be.

“Trying to seduce me, nurse?” You asked, putting your own hand on top of his.

“I think I already have.” Bucky joked.

“You caught me.” You surrendered, leaning into his touch. “My heart is absolutely yours, James Buchanan Barnes.

"I’ll be gentle with it.” Bucky promised in a low voice, rubbing your cheek gently with his thumb.

“I know.” You smiled, closing your eyes. Bucky smiled back, remembering what it’s like to surrender to someone so easily and fall in love with them every day. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Steve awkwardly looking around the room, body tense. He didn’t want to intrude on your moment even if he didn’t want it to happen.

“Hey, [Y/n],” Bucky nudged you slightly as it seemed you were falling asleep. “Steve is gonna stay with you and watch over you while you sleep.”

“I hope he’ll fight off my nightmares.” You mumbled, causing both super soldiers to chuckle.

“I’ll do my best.” Steve jested, patting your shoulder. You snaked your hand out of the covers and put it over his before he could pull away. He blushed slightly at the contact but made no move to pull away. Bucky smiled at his friend’s bashfulness, he was still the same man from the forties even though he was significantly larger.

“Sleep well.” Bucky whispered, pressing one last kiss to your temple before getting up and leaving as silently as he could. He took extra care to make sure the door closed without a sound. 

Finally alone, Steve allowed himself to relax, letting the tension ease from his body. He looked over at your sleeping form, your back was facing him. Your hand was still placed loosely on top of his on your shoulder and it made a small smile appear on his lips. He carefully moved his thumb to stroke back and forth against your knuckles has gently as he could but froze when you said his name in a hushed tone.

“Steve.” It was barely above a whisper.

“Sorry,” he answered back in a quiet voice. “I’ll stop.”

“Steve, hold me. I’m cold.” Steve gaped at your words and felt his cheeks heat up.

“I, um… Uh, okay.” He managed to mumble out. He opted stay on top of the covers rather than join you under them, wanting to respect your boundaries. Steve shifted slowly beside you before laying down and facing your back. He swallowed hard as he reached his hand out and settled it gently on your side. At his touch, you move backwards until your back met his chest and he was met with a faceful of hair.

“Whoa!” He exclaimed, jumping back slightly. You let out a soft chuckle and turned your head to look back at him.

“Sorry.” You apologized with a small smile that he returned softly. You raked your fingers through your hair, moving it so that he could lay beside you once more without having to breathe any of the strands in.

“It’s okay, just warn me next time.” He joked, settling down next to your small frame, returning his hand to your side. His touch was always gentle with you, you realized as he began to slowly trace his thumb back and forth on the covers against your waist. You weren’t sure if it was because he worries about his super strength and accidentally hurting you or if it’s because he was still just a shy little thing when it came to women, but the way he had his arm around you wasn’t gonna do.

“You can hold me tighter, you know.” You suggested, pressing back against his chest. “Kinda hard to share body heat if you don’t hold me.”

“Oh…” was all that he managed to slip out. He hesitated for a few moments before gripping your waist and pulling you flush against him. You giggled as he moved his hand over your stomach and pressed his forehead to the back of your neck. 

“That’s better.” You sighed, relaxing into him. “That serum of yours turned you guys in to super soldier personal heaters, I swear.” He smiled at your words.

“Yeah, well. I wasn’t always like this.” Steve said in a low voice. “Before the serum, when I was just the little guy, I was sick a lot.”

“Like me?” You interjected. He knew you were smiling just from your voice, causing him to smile too. 

“Yeah, like you.” He rubbed his thumb once against your tummy. “I always had something. Cold, flu, I probably had every sickness in the book at some point.” You giggled at his comment and shifted closer against him. “Anyways, I was usually clammy as a result. That and my frail body, I wouldn’t have been that great of a cuddle partner.”

“Oh hush, I would have used you as a teddy bear in split second.” You commented. Steve smiled at your words, knowing very well you meant what you said. “Cold and small or hot and big, you are by far the most deserving of cuddles out of everyone on this big blue marble, no matter what time period you’re in.” That didn’t come out as serious as you wanted thanks to the medicine taking affect, but it left Steve with a warm smile on his face nonetheless. 

“Thank you.” He said in a low voice. He meant it, it’s not everyday someone could make both the him of now and the little guy from Brooklyn feel loved and accepted. Things were quiet for a few moments as he lazily rubbed your stomach with his thumb. It was a comfortable safe silence, accompanied only by the breathing of two people.

“Steve.” You said, finally breaking the silence. Steve rose his head up off the pillow so he could see your face. Your eyes were closed but you weren’t asleep, not yet. “Tell me a story about you from Brooklyn.”

“I’m afraid my life wasn’t that exciting before I became Captain America.” He responded sheepishly. “Most of those stories were very unexciting or just downright embarrassing.”

“Doesn’t have to be anything important, it just has to be about you.” You said, no hint of playfulness in your voice. “I just wanna hear about you before I met you. See what I missed out on.”

You were serious. Steve knew you both were friends but he never expected you to feel so strongly about him. Girls usually pinned after Bucky, it’s what he’s used to. Bucky was handsome and charming while Steve was awkward and shy. Bucky was also tall while Steve stood shorter than every girl Bucky tried to set him up with. But when he became Captain America girls started to prefer him because now he was tall, he was handsome, he was charming. Or so he appeared. Even twice his old size, Steve was still terribly awkward with women and what they wanted from him was only skin deep, none of them cared about what was inside his heart. Peggy Carter was the only woman who had ever cared about him as a person and now, so did the girl wrapped up tightly in his arms. Steve smiled, genuinely, he couldn’t hide the happiness on his face or in his heart. He nuzzled the back of your neck gently and completely relaxed.

“Well, there was this one time…”


End file.
